Beauty Review

Dry, flakey, cut, and chapped: four adjectives that should never be used to describe our lips. But hey, sometimes life happens and those babies aren’t quite as “soft” and “supple” as you may like. I’ve personally been having my own lip-battle as of late. Remember my really adventurous biking escapade I mentioned in an earlier post? Well, I have since been enduring a really bizarre battle wound from the wind (yes, I was pedaling that fast): awkward, spotty lip chapping. Sounds so pretty, right? That’s a definite wrong. As if that were my only issue, like so many others in my situation, chapped lips are often accompanied by pain.

Obviously companies have capitalized on this issue and created some pretty great products. Over the last few days, I’ve turned this unfortunate beauty blunder into a learning experience and performed my own mini experiment to see which products actually work, and which just took advantage of my weakness for a nice package.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I’m a marketer’s dream. Here’s what I found…

Retire Me: ChapStick

The pros of this veteran product? Cheap ($2.88 for a 3 pack at Walmart), easy to find, works in a pinch.

The cons? I don’t know what it is about ChapStick, but I always go back to it thinking that I somehow messed up applying it before and that’s the reason it didn’t work. But, let’s be honest… how does one mess that up? The answer is, they don’t. So my conclusion is that this little stick just doesn’t work as well as they claim. Do I dare say that my lips actually appeared more chapped? Some people do swear by this product, though, anndd it has been around forever… so maybe it’s just my lips. Also, the packaging is boring. There I said it. Aside from a change in font, I think the look has been the same since they started. I guess that’s good brand recognition though, so… congrats?

I’m Good…Sometimes: Nivea A Kiss of Rejuvenation Anti-Aging Lip Care

The pros? While it’s a bit more expensive than ChapStick, it is still pretty reasonable (around $3.29 at most drugstores). Also, I’m a fan of lip care tubes, so the packaging for me is a plus. This particular line has coenzyme Q10 that supposedly helps with anti-aging. I guess I haven’t really been caring noticing any changing in the youthfulness of my lips, but…sure, it’s possible. I do find that this guy works between 85-90% of the time. I’ll throw some on before bed and again first thing in the morning and usually, this stuff keeps my lips soft and healthy looking.

The cons? Yes, it usually works. Lately though, this was no match for my damaged lips. It has a milky white color, too. So if you put on as much as I have been, you can look slightly sickly without adding a pop of color into the mix. Perhaps, for the average dry lipped people of the world, this is a good option – but anything more severe, try something that’s more potent.

Buy Me Now: EOS Lip Balms

The pros? Personally, this is the holy grail of lip balms. Relatively inexpensive ($2.79-$3.00 range), at least 6 different colors/flavors, and it actually WORKS. Like, so well. Thanks to this baby, I’m a proud owner of moisturized, pain-free lips! Don’t even get me started on the packaging. A small little pastel ball holding half-mooned balm inside? Um, yes. I need all of them. Right now. This lip product ALWAYS goes on super smooth and it’s never greasy. It leaves my lips hydrated with a slight sheen over my natural lip color. No milky white mess, here. Ah, I love it. One more thing, I love it a lot.

The cons? As much as I LOVE the packaging, unless you are carrying a purse, sticking a little ball in your jeans can be uncomfortable… and awkward.